The majority-Christian Chin state, located in western Myanmar, is excluded from ASEAN humanitarian assistance.
where The military junta and civilian defense forces have frequently clashed, is not receiving humanitarian assistance due to military blockages in Chin State.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional group seeking to promote economic and security cooperation among the ten members, including Myanmar, announced this past Sunday that it would be working with the military junta to distribute humanitarian aid to Myanmar.
Numerous deaths and casualties have reported indiscriminate attacks by junta forces against civilians in Chin state and neighboring regions. In addition, the military has torched homes and villages, searched houses, and issued arbitrary arrests and detentions.
A spokesperson for the Chin State Joint Defense Committee (CJDC) expressed great disappointment that the state is excluded from ASEAN’s new humanitarian assistance program.
“Almost the entire town of Thantlang in Chin state was burned down during the fighting,” they said. “In Falam, about 93 houses were turned into ashes. Thirty percent of the Chin people are war refugees. We’re so disappointed that our people have been left out of the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Program. It isn’t fair. We strongly oppose this entire aid program coming through the junta.”